Allswell

124 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn (347-799-2743)

It’s hard not to feel like you’re preparing for hibernation when you eat at Allswell, the latest gastropub to be helmed by Nate Smith, formerly of the Spotted Pig. As temperatures dropped in late fall, the menu, which changes daily and takes cues from British classics, seemed designed to bulk diners up for winter. The rillettes in a potted-duck appetizer were packed tightly into a small glass jar and sealed with a thick layer of creamy, peppered lard for spreading on toast triangles, while a mammoth pork chop, marbled with luscious fat, tasted of buttered popcorn. A veal potpie, densely packed with cubes of tender chuck, carrots, and peas, was big and rich enough to feed three people—“or one giant,” quipped a wide-eyed young woman. “Do you think they’ll let us sleep here?” she asked after a few too many bites, slumping into her seat.

These dishes were tasty enough—as was, particularly, a happy-hour sandwich piled high with fried calamari slathered in chunky tartar sauce—and felt appropriate in the restaurant’s shire-inn-style setting: the décor, marked by exposed wooden beams, leather banquettes, and vintage wallpaper depicting British leisure-time activities like cricket and foxhunting, is as heavy as the food. But the focal point of the room is a tall, single-paned modernist window above the bar that perfectly frames the changing leaves of a tree outside, and the dishes that give at least the impression of lightness are truly memorable. A thin slab of gelatinous pork terrine, as beautifully translucent as stained glass, was served with a bright salad of crunchy celery, currants, and parsley; oysters, splashed with cream and prosecco, were flash-baked to an almost glittery sheen.

The gastropub has become pervasive enough that the word alone invokes eye rolls; what the city could use more of is, simply, bars with great snacks. Sit in view of that window, pairing smaller plates with drinks from a roster of elegant cocktails—a citrusy Manhattan called the Greenpoint, say, or the Buckin’ Branca (featuring fernet), or, at brunch, an especially fiery Bloody Mary made with habanero and cilantro—and Allswell fits the bill. (Open daily for brunch and dinner. Entrées $14-$28.) ♦